The Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, in collaboration with Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), developed a series of seminars, ''The New Biology: Challenges and Opportunities'', to stimulate dialogue between leaders in science, medicine, law, biotechnology and senior government policymakers on matters that will shape much of the genomic revolution's impact on individuals and institutions in this country.

The DOE-funded accelerator BNCT program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has resulted in the only operating accelerator-based epithermal neutron beam facility capable of generating significant dose rates in the world. With five separate beamlines and two different epithermal neutron beam assemblies installed, we are currently capable of treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis in less than 15 minutes (knee joints) or 4 minutes (finger joints) or irradiating patients with shallow brain tumors to a healthy tissue dose of 12.6 Gy in 3.6 hours. The accelerator, designed by Newton scientific Incorporated, is located in dedicated laboratory space that MIT renovated specifically for this project. The Laboratory for Accelerator Beam Applications consists of an accelerator room, a control room, a shielded radiation vault, and additional laboratory space nearby. In addition to the design, construction and characterization of the tandem electrostatic accelerator, this program also resulted in other significant accomplishments. Assemblies for generating epithermal neutron beams were designed, constructed and experimentally evaluated using mixed-field dosimetry techniques. Strategies for target construction and target cooling were implemented and tested. We demonstrated that the method of submerged jet impingement using water as the coolant is capable of handling power densities of up to 6 x 10(sup …

A common problem in signal processing is to estimate the structure of an object from noisy measurements linearly related to the desired image. These problems are broadly known as inverse problems. A key feature which complicates the solution to such problems is their ill-posedness. That is, small perturbations in the data arising e.g. from noise can and do lead to severe, non-physical artifacts in the recovered image. The process of stabilizing these problems is known as regularization of which Tikhonov regularization is one of the most common. While this approach leads to a simple linear least squares problem to solve for generating the reconstruction, it has the unfortunate side effect of producing smooth images thereby obscuring important features such as edges. Therefore, over the past decade there has been much work in the development of edge-preserving regularizers. This technique leads to image estimates in which the important features are retained, but computationally the y require the solution of a nonlinear least squares problem, a daunting task in many practical multi-dimensional applications. In this thesis we explore low-order models for reducing the complexity of the re-construction process. Specifically, B-Splines are used to approximate the object. If a ''proper'' collection B-Splines are …

This report discusses how the 108th Congress considered, but ultimately did not reauthorize the federal adult education and literacy programs. Furthermore, the report covers what was passed specifically by the 108th Congress. The report largely examines the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) and its funding.

The overall goal of this project was to assess the economic feasibility of CO{sub 2} flooding the naturally fractured Spraberry Trend Area in West Texas. This objective was accomplished by conducting research in four areas: (1) extensive characterization of the reservoirs, (2) experimental studies of crude oil/brine/rock (COBR) interaction in the reservoirs, (3) analytical and numerical simulation of Spraberry reservoirs, and, (4) experimental investigations on CO{sub 2} gravity drainage in Spraberry whole cores. This report provides results of the fourth year of the five-year project for each of the four areas including a status report of field activities leading up to injection of CO{sub 2}.

This report discusses the issue of U.S. economic assistance to sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the importance of continued assistance in light of U.S. national security and also various U.S.-led efforts to promote reform amongst African citizens themselves. U.S. assistance finds its way to Africa through a variety of channels, including the USAID-administered DA program, food aid programs, and indirect aid provided through international financial institutions and the United Nations.

This report discusses projected agricultural imports and exports for FY2005, as well as legislation that deals with federal programs in support of agricultural exports and federal aid dedicated to farms and agricultural reform.

This report reviews the types of air emissions from livestock and poultry operations and their human health and environmental impacts. It then discusses provisions of several federal laws concerned with environmental impacts, beginning with the Clean Water Act, because protecting water resources has been the primary regulatory focus regarding livestock and animal operations.

This report discusses a plan announced by EPA in January 2005, called the Air Compliance Agreement, that would produce air quality monitoring data on animal agriculture emissions from a small number of farms, while at the same time protecting all participants (including farms where no monitoring takes place) through a “safe harbor” from liability under certain provisions of federal environmental laws.

This report is a primer that briefly describes the main avenues for foreign nationals living in the United State (legally or illegally) to become LPRs (Legal Permanent Residents).

This report is on The Americans with Disabilities Act: Supreme Court Decisions.

With a few exceptions (such as milk), the products of animal agriculture are not eligible for the price and income supports that Congress historically has written into farm bills for major row crops such as grains, cottons, and oilseeds. However, the meat and poultry industries do look to the federal government for leadership and support in prompting their exports, resolving trade disputes, and reassuring markets that their products are safe, of high quality, and disease free. Farm bills can contain policy guidance and resources to help achieve these objectives.

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According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the release of waste from animal feedlots to surface water, groundwater, soil, and air is associated with a range of human health and ecological impacts and contributes to the degradation of the nation's surface waters. This report provides background on the revised environmental rules, the previous Clean Water Act rules and the Clinton Administration proposal, and perspectives of key interest groups on the proposal and final regulations. It also identifies several issues that could be of congressional interest as the implementation of the revised rules proceeds.

On June 30th, 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed regulations that would revise a 2003 Clean Water Act rule governing waste discharges from large confined animal feeding operations. This proposal was necessitated by a 2005 federal court decision, resulting from challenges brought by agriculture industry groups and environmental advocacy groups, that vacated parts of the 2003 rule and remanded other parts of analysis and clarification.

This report is on The Anticipated Effects of Depository Institutions Paying Interest on Checking Accounts.

This report is about new directions from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the 110th Congress.

This report presents the issues considered by the 107th Congress related to the civil works program of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). The Corps plans, constructs, and operates water resources facilities primarily for flood control, navigation, and environmental purposes.

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Instructor shortages are affecting the quality and quantity of Army truck driver training. Fort Leonard Wood, which trains about 90 percent of truck drivers, is especially affected by the instructor shortage. The result is that student drivers are not fully trained in all aspects of the instruction program when they graduate. If formal schools had enough instructors, they would presumably be able to teach the entire instruction program. The student imbalance between the schools at Fort Leonard Wood and Fort Bliss creates an ineffective use of resources. If the annual student load were more equally distributed between the two schools, student graduates from Fort Leonard Wood might receive more complete training. The formal schools are not adhering to the instruction program, which calls for some training with trucks carrying cargo. Furthermore, no training is provided on how to pull equipment. Similarly, students are not being trained to drive under different weather and surface conditions. Because annual check rides and sustainment are not always being performed, unsafe driving habits may go undetected. Although performing and recording check rides and sustainment may be time-consuming, these procedures can save …

The purpose of this task is to update the existing bottom/side lift gantry analysis so that the design is consistent with Enhanced Design Alternative II (EDA II) design constraints listed in the Monitored Geologic Repository Project Description Document (CRWMS M and O 1999a, Section 2.2.1.1, p. 9a). This update is consistent with the requirements of the Technical Guidance Document for License Application Preparation (YMP 1999, Section 6.2.5.1). This update will also take into account the latest available equipment classification and Waste Emplacement/Retrieval System Description Document (SDD) (CRWMS M and O 2000c) requirements. The principal objective of this analysis is to verify that the newly developed bottom/side lift gantry concept continues to be a suitable design concept for the current Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR) design. This analysis includes an examination of the waste package (WP) transfer operation at the emplacement drift transfer dock. In addition, this analysis verifies that the gantry is compatible with the WP transporter, which has been redesigned to handle WPs sitting on pallets (CRWMS M and O 2000a). The scope of this work is to examine the existing analysis and to determine what, if any, modifications to the analysis may be required as a result of additional …

This is one report in the series of reports that discuss the campaign finance practices and related issues. Concerns over financing federal elections have become a seemingly perennial aspect of our political system, centered on the enduring issues of high campaign costs and reliance on interest groups for needed campaign funds. The report talks about the today’s paramount issues such as perceived loopholes in current law and the longstanding issues: overall costs, funding sources, and competition.

U.S.-China economic ties have expanded substantially over the past several years. China is now the third largest U.S. trading partner, its second largest source of imports, and its fourth largest export market. However, U.S.-China commercial ties have been strained by a number of issues, including a surging U.S. trade deficit with China, China's refusal to float its currency, and failure to fully comply with its World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments, especially its failure to provide protection for U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR). This report explores these issues in detail, especially concerning the lack of protection for U.S. IPR.

China’s economy continues to be a concern to U.S. policymakers. On the one hand, China’s economic growth presents huge opportunities for U.S. exporters. On the other hand, the surge in Chinese exports to the United States has put competitive pressures on many U.S. industries. Many U.S. policymakers have argued that greater efforts should be made to pressure China to fully implement its WTO commitments and to change various economic policies deemed harmful to U.S. economic interests, such as its currency peg and its use of subsidies to support its SOEs. In addition, recent bids by Chinese state-owned firms to purchase various U.S. firms have raised concerns among Members over the impact such acquisitions could have on U.S. national and economic security.

The Corps estimates that this entire package of recommended activities would cost a total of $1,996 million. Included in this package are recommendations for immediate authorization ($1,123 million), further authorized investigation ($145 million), and projects that could be authorized in the future ($728 million). This CRS short report is limited to a summary of this Corps report and the next steps in implementation.